A curt breath cut through my nose. “Don’t you dare make excuses to me.”
“Hmph!” He threw a hand out in frustration. “What would you have me do?”
I planted a fist on my hip. “You’re a grown man. You should have figured something out.”
“Why are you here?” Henry asked, interrupting our growing argument.
Paddy pointed between Ailish and me. “Been following these two since the weaver’s farm, trying to get a private word to Ailish. Almost had ’em at the woman’s cottage, but they ran off to watch you fight Lugh, and I haven’t had another chance till now.”
I glared at him. “Well, she doesn’t want to talk to you.” I extended a hand to her, momentarily forgetting the inevitable pain if she would have taken it. “Come with us, Ailish. We won’t let him hurt you.”
She shook her head. “Go ahead. I’ll come later.”
My eyes bugged with disbelief. “There’s no way I’m leaving you alone with Calhoun’s son.” I gestured wildly at the withered woman seated on the throne behind her. “In a witch’s prison no less. What are you thinking?”
Her neck slumped between her shoulders. “Please just go,” she mumbled to the floor.
It didn’t make sense. Confusion clouded my thoughts, and I frowned at her. “What’s wrong, Ailish? Why won’t you leave?”
Cate squeezed my arm as she walked past. “Let me,” she said inside my head.
“Stay back,” Paddy warned, lifting the patch a sliver. “Or I’ll give you a headache you’ll not soon forget.”
I ground my teeth together. Henry adjusted his grip on the spear, no doubt ready to throw it. Cate stilled, her hands extended in a sign of peace. “I mean you no harm. Just let me talk to the girl.” She paused. “Will you allow me to come closer, Miss O’Bearra?”
Ailish nodded without lifting her head.
A tense moment passed when Paddy finally dropped his hand from the patch. “Talk if’n you must.” He glanced down at the top of Ailish’s head. “She’s deaf to reason, this one.”
I held my breath, half expecting Cate to slam a hand into Paddy’s chest, and half disappointed when she just sat on the dais a few feet from Ailish.
“Is Cailleach waiting outside for you?”
“That she be,” Ailish groaned, “making sure I’ve done her bidding.” She darted a look at me. Red tinged her cheeks, I assumed from being so near Cate. “But I won’t do it, no matter what.”
Cate’s gaze drifted to the top of the cavern, trailing a slow line along the wall and back to the floor. “Carmen’s power remains here, though neither she nor her descendants can wield it. Which tells me the curse remains in place.” She tipped her head toward Ailish. “Only a Tuatha Dé can alter the curse, yet none of the gods and goddesses can come inside. Rather brilliant of King Bres, wouldn’t you say, Miss O’Bearra?”
Ailish didn’t answer, just continued to stare at the tips of her boots that peeked out from beneath her hem.
“Except a goddess did get inside, didn’t she?”
I narrowed my eyes, not sure what Cate could mean.
“Well, maybe not directly, but her voice got in and that’s all she needs to change things.”
A slight nod, and Ailish buried her face farther into her lap.
“Cailleach believes the balance off between our kind,” Cate continued, “and wishes Selah dead before she grows any stronger and moves beyond the goddess’s reach for good.”
“You know what she wants from me then, and why I won’t be leaving with you.”
Paddy cursed. Tom moved beside Henry, his sword sheathed. “Nothing like a bur in the boot after a long fight,” he muttered.
Except this bur was my friend, who had been ordered to betray me. “Ailish, what happens if you disobey Cailleach?” The words wobbled against a sudden knot in my throat.
She managed to shrug one shoulder while keeping her face hidden. “Banishment or transformation, I suppose. The goddess isn’t one to mix much with her descendants, so there’s only tales o’ those who disobeyed.”
The knot tightened until breathing grew difficult. Ailish intended to stay in the cavern, to sacrifice herself rather than trap me. And she was just mule-headed enough to do it.
Henry put a protective arm around my waist and pulled me closer. “There’s got to be another way.”
“I’ve been through it,” Ailish replied, “and me staying be the best for everyone.”
Paddy made to touch her shoulder, only to let his hand fall back to his side. “Not for me. I’ll not have you give up your life for some lady you just met.”
“And I’ll not have Selah trapped,” Henry said, his voice low with the hint of a threat.
The two men glared at each other. Paddy’s fingers twitched while Henry tightened his grip on the spear, raising it ever so slightly.
Good heavens, we’d had enough fighting for one day. “We’ll both stay then, until we can find another solution.” I started forward, not about to let Ailish carry this burden alone.